Adjusting
by kammad42
Summary: A Bethyl story. Set after Still and before Alone. Beth and Daryl can only focus on staying together. And surviving together. The build-up in Beth and Daryl's relationship between the episodes Still and Alone. Rated T for violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Beth woke up the next morning to the sun shining in her eyes and a huge headache. Her eyes instinctively squinted as the sun shine down and her, and she groaned as she turned over. The leaves crunched under her body as she sat up and looked around the lazy camp that had been set up.

The cans suddenly rattled around her as her head whipped around behind her, pulling out her pocket knife from the holster she had around her thigh. She sighed when she realized that it was just Daryl.

"Good to see you're finally awake." He said, stepping over the makeshift alarm system. Beth stood up and snatched a bottle of water from the ground that was in the camp. "How's the hangover," he asked, throwing a dead rabbit carcass into one of the bags they shared.

Beth sighed again. "I'll get over it." Her head was pounding. She suddenly felt bile rise up her throat as she covered her mouth with her hand, frantically trying to find a place to vomit. She settled with leaning over the cans and rope as she emptied all the contents from her stomach.

Daryl came up behind her to hold the loose strands of her hair back away from her face. Beth coughed up the last bit of it before leaning back and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Daryl stepped away, too, and started to get their items together for the next move.

"Sorry 'bout that." She didn't know what else to say as she started to take down the alarming system they had. "Ain't no reason to apologize." Daryl replied. He'd had his fair share of hangovers, so he knew how she felt.

Despite what she had seen in movies and what her father had told her, she still remembered what had happened the night before. How Daryl emotionally broke down. How bright the fire was of the moonshine house. She smiled as she remembered the salute she and Daryl had given it before walking off.

There were no more awkward silences between them anymore. They were finally comfortable around each other, now that they had explored each other's differences and pasts.

After some time of walking, they reached the edge of the forest. Beth could still feel the hangover, but the headache as dulling and there was nothing in her stomach to be emptied. She decided to stop a few yards into the woods to cook up the rabbit.

They used the supplies from the broken down car they had found to light the fire. Beth kept her distance from the flames as the sun stayed breathing down on her. She as slews sweating and she didn't want anymore heat surrounding her.

As the rabbit cooked, Daryl scoffed. Beth looked up, surprised, her eyebrows furrowed. "Ya know what I went through to get this little thing?" Beth replied, "What?" As she looked across the fire at him. "Two walkers were closin' in on him when I saw it. Broke another bolt putting one through its skull."

Beth grimaced. Daryl was running out of bolts quite frequently, and she didn't know when, or if, they would ever find a full weapons' store again. Beth laughed at the story after. "So, you saved the rabbit from getting ripped to shreds by walkers, then you killed it right after?" Daryl nodded and Beth laughed at the irony.

By the time the rabbit was cooked and skinned, Beth's stomach was growling for food. She gladly took the leg and chomped down on the flesh. Almost as soon as she swallowed, she heard the noise behind her.

Someone held a knife to her throat and forced her to stand. Daryl quickly stood and aimed his crossbow at the woman and Beth scratched the person's hands as hard as she could. She was gasping for breath. The woman was starting to close off her airways.

"I got you back." The woman said in Beth's ear. "They ain't gonna take you from me again." Beth sent Daryl a panicked look. She had no clue what the woman was talking about. "You're stayin' with me now." Beth's eyes went wide as the person behind her said that. She wanted to stay with Daryl.

Right after the woman said that, Daryl knew he needed to do something. He wanted to stay with Beth, too. He didn't want to be alone. So, without thinking twice, he aimed and fired his crossbow at their attacker's head.

**A/N: Hey! Just a little something that I thought would be cool to write. Please, favorite, follow, review, cuz I love to hear your feedback!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**The woman fell to the ground a second after the bolt went through her head. Beth stood frozen in shock as the limbless body lied on the ground behind her. Daryl kept his stance with his crossbow still pointed behind Beth.**

**After more than a few more moments of silence, Beth slowly and heaitantly turned around to face the woman's body. Her face was now covered and blood and an arrow stuck straight out of her forehead. A holster was wrapped around her thigh with a pistol stuck inside. She also had a backpack. **

**Her hand was spread out around the knife in her hand. Through the blood, her eyes were blankly open. Beth gasped and stepped back, her breaths turning into shocked pants. A ball formed in her throat. From the heat of the sun, her hangover, and the shock of the situation, Bet fell unconscious. **

**Daryl snapped out of the trance he was in to grab Beth before she could fall onto the dirt or worse, backwards into the fire. He gently laid her down next to the log she had been sitting on, and went to snatch his arrow out of the woman's forehead. **

**He cringed as he yanked it out and flung the blood off of the arrow. Before trying to move the body, he grabbed her knife, the gun holster and pistol, and flipped her over to remove the backpack from her shoulders. Charms hung down from the zipper and they clinked together when he lied the objects next to Beth. **

**Daryl didn't go very far from the makeshift camp they had. He grunted as he picked up the body and put it down under the bush enough that nobody could see it. Beth and Daryl would have to leave soon. The smell was stronger since it was an open wound, and it would attract walkers over time.**

**After one last glance at the body, he went to the other side of the bush to where Beth was. Her eyelids were fluttering as if she were to wake up. Daryl sat down beside her and leaned down to look at her neck for any signs of injury. **

**Beth suddenly jerked awake. Her head flew off the ground and she almost head-butt Daryl. He leaned back on his knees while Beth gulped for air and looked at her surroundings. She calmed down after she realized that she was just with Daryl and they were still in the same place.**

"**What happened?" She asked Daryl. He wondered if he should lie to her. "The heat got to ya'. You passed out for a few minutes." Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. She's handled just the heat alone before. Was it something else, too?**

**She looked sideways at the things Daryl had grabbed. He took the knife because Beth already had one. "Where'd ya' get this stuff?" She asked. "There was a house up ahead." Daryl tilted his head in front of him. Beth hesitantly nodded. "Alright." She weakly stood and tilted a bit, but she stood up straight after a while. **

**When Beth bent down to pick up the backpack and gun, she noticed something under the bush on the other side. She examined it for a second, then told Daryl, "I gotta go to the bathroom." **

**She traveled around to the other side. She gasped at what she saw and held back her scream as the memories flooded back. Daryl killed this person. Then he lied to her about it. **


	3. AN!

**A/N: Hey guys! Please don't hate me for this! This story is currently on hold. I'm just not exactly into it very much, which makes it really hard to write about it. Please please please please don't hate me! If you REALLY REALLY PASSIONATELY want me to finish this or continue it, PM me. I don't regularly check this story's stats, so I won't see it if you leave a review about it. If I get two or three PMs about it, I will continue it. But, for now, it's on hold. Thanks!**


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